Paneer Kofta & Greens Coconut Milk Curry

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen that I’ve recently been posting about the joys of my pregnancy so far. We’ve managed to finish up the nursery, pack the hospital bags (so they’re ready to go when we need to) and found out that the baby is measuring up well. She or he (we are keeping the gender a surprise for all our friends and family) is a proper night owl, spinning, hiccuping and fidgeting at the most unsociable hours. Sounds a lot like my Mr if you ask me…

Three weeks ago I also found out that I have gestational diabetes (GD). Sitting in that hospital for over 2 hours for my glucose tolerance test, I had a feeling deep down that it wouldn’t go so well. We have a family history of type 2 diabetes and being Asian meant I ticked two of the three boxes on the high risk checklist. Still, that didn’t mean that the news wasn’t a shock. I was at work when I found out and I had an absolute meltdown. I was devastated because I thought I had brought it on myself – that it was because of something that I had done. And that made me feel like a failure.

For those of you who don’t know, GD is a fairly common issue with pregnancy which usually disappears after the baby is born but once detected, it is to be taken very seriously and treated appropriately. I don’t want to go into a lot of detail here, but this is what the NHS website says about it if you’d like to know more.

Ultimately, it means that I must check my blood sugar levels 4 times per day and ensure they are not too high. In order to control them, I need to balance everything I eat for the next 9 weeks or so. The basic premise is to treat it like a sugar and carbohydrate intolerance. That’s not to say that all carbs are off limits – we all need carbohydrates to stay fit and healthy. Cutting them out completely is a bad move. Having said this, it’s low GI carbs you need, and less of them than I would normally eat at a single meal. Now, each meal consists of a slow release carb such as brown basmati, wholemeal pasta or wholegrain bread, LOTS of protein like tofu, paneer and soy-based products, good fats like natural yoghurt, nuts and seeds and as many leafy green veggies as I like. Together, they are the perfect balance of goodness for me and for baby. It’s a good job we ADORE vegetables.

I’ve been doing this diet for almost a month and now that I’ve done my reading and am informed, it’s not so scary anymore. After I found out, my midwife said to me that knowledge is power and she’s absolutely right. I no longer feel like it’s my fault because it absolutely isn’t. The same goes for millions of other women who get diagnosed with GD every day. Knowing that it’s there and being informed of the risks allows us to adapt our lifestyles for our little ones and gives them the best start in life.

For the next few weeks and beyond, I’ll be sharing some of the recipes I’ve been cooking on this diet – they’re delicious everyday meals that are full of goodness and you can enjoy them whether you’re on a GD diet or not. I must say that we’re all different in the way our bodies process different foods so please check your tolerance to different things and find a balance that works for YOU. What keeps one person’s sugar levels stable can make another person’s rocket. For anyone who has GD, know that you are amazing, your body is busy creating a little miracle and it’s all going to be worth it in the end!

Baby K.O is a massive fan of this one. It is loaded with green goodness, golden paneer kofta and with a salad of fresh cucumber slices, red onions, mint and coriander, it’s the ultimate veggie curry. Enjoy it with brown basmati rice, straight from a bowl to save on washing up.

A fresh, nourishing bowl of greens for when you're craving comfort food.

Course:
Main Course

Cuisine:
Indian

Servings: 4people

Author: Sanjana

Ingredients

For the paneer kofta:

225gpaneer

1tbspchopped fresh mint

1tbspchopped fresh coriander

1smallred chilli

1/2tspground coriander

3/4tspsalt

Oil for coating the kofta

For the curry:

1headsavoy cabbage, finely shredded

75gfrozen peas

200gbroccoli, broken into small florets

150gfresh baby spinach

6spring onions, quartered

12fresh curry leaves

3cloves garlic

2thin green chillies

10skinless almonds, blanched

400mlfull-fat coconut milk

1tbspoil

2tspmustard seeds

2tspgaram masala

1 1/2tspsalt

To garnish:

1tbspfresh coriander, chopped

1tbspfresh mint, chopped

1red chilli, choppedoptional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350°F.

Place all the ingredients for the kofta in a blender and pulse until the mixture comes together in a ball.

Divide the paneer into 15 small balls, rolling between your hands to ensure there are as few cracks as possible. Place onto a lined baking tray, coat each one in a little oil and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden on the outside. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Place the cabbage, broccoli and spring onions in a large roasting tray, season with 1/2 tsp salt and bake in the oven, around 15 minutes. The edges of the broccoli and onions should brown a little and the cabbage should crisp up.

To make the curry, blend together the curry leaves, almonds (along with 60ml of the soaking water), garlic and chillies, along with a handful of the spinach leaves until you have a smooth, green paste. Add extra water if needed.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Pour in the green paste and cook for 10 minutes until the oil separates from the paste and leaves the sides of the pan. Next, stir in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil and then add the roasted veggies, frozen peas, remaining spinach and golden paneer kofta. Cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Garnish with fresh coriander, mint and chillies (optional).

Recipe Notes

Serve with brown rice, onions and cucumber.

Click the image below to Pin and save to your Pinterest board for later!

4 days agoby sanjanamodhaThis Melt-in-the-Mouth Burnt Aubergine and Spinach Curry is my most popular recipe to date. It’s the one I get the most emails, comments and messages about and it lights up my heart to read about how much you love it. I love it too. I live and breathe Gujarati food. Simple vegetarian dishes we’d eat every night when I was young are what have inspired my love of cooking today. Oroh was one of those dishes mum would cook as a midweek dinner after our evening swim at our local leisure centre. Oroh is simply a name for smoky aubergine

4 days agoby sanjanamodhaSimple three lentil daal (urad daal, moong daal and tuver daal) with lots of ginger, chillies, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Tomatoes and salt to balance out the flavours, Gujarati style. These lentils are widely available in all good supermarkets and Indian grocers. Served with roasted butternut squash rotli. I added mashed roasted squash, toasted cumin and a handful of other spices to my usual chapatti flour and kneaded to make a smooth dough. They were then rolled and cooked on a steel plate until golden. SWIPE LEFT FOR THE DAAL INGREDIENTS . . . #daal#indianfood#foodblogger#indian#butternutsquash

5 days agoby sanjanamodhaMost of you will already know that the only reason I get out of bed on a non-work day is to eat a great breakfast. My favourites include Masala Poori with Potato Curry and Sweet Semolina, as well as Stuffed Paratha or Thepla and Chai. When I’m seeking to start my day with something a little sweeter, I always look to my sweet spice tin. It’s a box dedicated to the spices I use less often in making savoury dishes and one of the best things in my kitchen. Inside, you’ll find whole cardamom, red saffron threads in a little

5 days agoby sanjanamodhaSprouted Mung Bean Breakfast Noodles are my go-to healthy Indian breakfast As much as I live for stuffed paratha, these spiced noodles pack the punch I crave on a chilly morning, without all the ghee. The stir-fried vermicelli noodles are tossed with sprouted mung beans, crackled mustard seeds, curry leaves, chillies and turmeric for a flavoursome breakfast number you’ll cook again and again. Transform it into a filling lunch or dinner with the addition of pan-fried tofu. SWIPE LEFT FOR THE INGREDIENTS. Recipe is on the blog . . . #f52grams#heresmyfood#vegansofig#huffposttaste#breakfast#vegansofig#veganrecipes#noodles#vegannoodles#thecookfeed